“We have forgotten who made us” – Gov. Perry

Saturday, at Reliant Stadium, Texas Governor, Rick Perry, said to thousands of worshipers during his prayer rally:

Our heart breaks for America. We see discord at home, we see fear in the market place, we see anger in the halls of governments, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us.

Reports say that 30,000 people attended the rally while many more, in hundreds of churches throughout America, watched by simulcast.

Supporters and critics cannot agree on whether or not Perry should or shouldn’t have organized this type of rally; but, this does not hide the fact that Texans, as well as people everywhere, pray. Why do they pray? They pray because, deep down, they understand that prayer helps.

The progessive spiritualizing of one’s whole life and thoughts helps individuals and society as a whole.

When troubles accumulate and fear weighs like a heavy, wet blanket, we can either crumble or we can start remembering the One who made us. We can turn to the One who will lead and heal us. We can pray.

No matter the political persuasions, the religious differences, or the intolerances, we have the same God. We, individually, express His talents, love, and strength. We all express a divine intelligence.

In the face of so much despair, I agree that now is a perfect time for people of all faiths and beliefs to remember the mighty and tender One who has made them.

– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith’s columns originate at: KeithWommack.com

As with all things equal parts religious and political, this is a very delicate issue. I must say, however, that the the real question here does not deal with the rally’s content. It is how and for what purpose that content is being wielded. There is no argument that prayer–the discourse between God and individual humans–is absolutely essential to living a worthwhile life. Using prayer to frame political positions is downright evil. Perry and his evangelical partners have a sociopolitical agenda. Nothing wrong with that. So do I. But I do not evoke God to intimidate or exhort others into submitting to my political point of view. Essentially, they are saying, “God’s angry and disappointed in us. That’s why things are so bad right now.” That is a potent argument to people who are genuinely suffering in unemployment and the dispair it creates. It’s also total, unfair manipulation of people who are being hurt by the greed of the very institutions that Perry needs (or will need) to run for higher office–the banks, energy companies, pharmaseuticals, etc. He’s using God and our devotion to Him to get what he really wants–more authority and wealth via higher political office. Remember that, in the 1930s, the German National Socialists handed out bread, candy and jobs to a nation of people hit hard by a worldwide economic depression. They even OK’d an official holiday to recognize working people, like our Labor Day. But don’t forget they outlawed union membership across the board the day after the holiday. Sound familiar? Most people say it can’t happen here, but a great deal of the Nazi playbook is in use right now by people who are no more interested in restoring God’s hand to the governance of our country than there is a man in the mooon. Remember, the very founding fathers Perry uses to make his point established a clear divide between church and state because they experienced firsthand the results blending the two produced in western Europe. Fleeing the absence of freedom in theocacies is what brought us to these shores in the first place. Remember?

We have forgotten who made us …
And those who have not forgotten who made us seem to have gotten confused about what we are supposed to do about it. I don’t remember one line in the Bible about democracy. I do remember Satan tempting Jesus with dominion over Earthly kingdoms, which he rejected. I am not sure why folks might think he changed his mind about that. I recall in Romans that being subject to a government that is not particularly Christian is not a crisis, but not that God’s Law should be imposed on all.

You take on faith that this was a day about prayer and God. So it partly was, but the facts also indicate it was a dangerous game of political grandstanding, a day calculated to divide and conquer rather than unite in prayer, and I am talking about from the inside of the event.

You also take of faith that if politicians were guided by God we could do more with less. I can only go by those who claim to be guided by God. For some reason, they are NOT guided to have us all follow the example and advice of Jesus to feed the hungry, cure the sick, and clothe the naked, but they are guided by God to impose his commandments, casting the first and every stone. Why it is that the commandments are good enough for all to follow, but not the example, I cannot say. Also, God does not seem to want us to breath clean air. I am totally at a loss on that one.

For Rick Perry I believe it was mainly about votes. He’s a politician and that’s what politicians do. He can pray to his God at any time and in any place. He chose to pray on the stage at Reliant for a particular reason. I don’t hold that against him but I see it for what it is.

Of the Founding Fathers there were; smugglers, slavers, those with multiple mistresses and children born out of wedlock, some religiously ambivalent with others being extremely religious, tax dodgers, well-educated elites, common folks, the politically ambitious and those who served not having power as the goal; in short they were men, not demi-gods striding amongst the clouds delivering platitudes.

I agree, now I have a question, who the heck was trying to deny my, and Rick Perry’s right to assemble, and worship in the way they see fit??? That is our first amendment right. When these groups went to Court, and tried to get the court to grant an injunction to stop the “Response”, they were trying to get the government to establish a religion “Agnostic and Athiestic, and Gay”

First, there is no proof that god is anything more than a man-made invention. Second, people should meditate/pray/focus harder if it brings them inner peace. There is nothing wrong with trying to do better and wishing others to do better. “Forgetting who made us” has nothing to do with either of these.

Perry has forgotten that not all Americans are Christians and that the First Amendment says “no law respecting an establishment.”
The US has become more and more religiously diverse and Perry’s type of Christians can no longer dominate it.

After all, he didn’t just call for a national day of generic prayer that did not apply solely to one religion. He specifically called for a Christian event using his power of governor, invited all other state governors to attend, affiliated himself with right-wing Christian advocacy groups to sponsor the event, and even had robocalls done to promote the event to citizens.

These do not strike me as the actions of a man who simply feels the country needs prayer. They strike me as the actions of a man who wants to connect to his “base” (Republican Christians), and be seen by the country as a man who will put Christianity first. Perhaps I’m cynical and he truly sis feel the country needed prayer. However, Jesus himself understood and preached that the less flashy ways show more sincerity.

There are many, many people who do not believe we are made by one all powerful being. Our current “national crisis” calls for thought, planning and implementation. Relying on divine intervention for a solution seems a poor substitute. Whatever his personal beliefs, Rick Perry chose to be Governor of all of Texas…not just those who share his beliefs. Our country was founded on a belief in the need to separate the church and state to avoid persecution many of our founders experienced in Europe. Those who are comforted by prayer should practice it. Our political leaders, however, should leave their prayers at home and focus on practical leadership for all citizens.

I am fully aware that many people do not believe we are made by one all powerful being. Should that stop those who do from having their beliefs be the foundation for their lives? Why should political leaders leave their beliefs at home? It is a part of what makes them who they are, whether others like it or not. We live in a world of many views and beliefs. We all must learn to live with it.

Political Leaders need not leave their beliefs at home, merely recognize when it is not their pulpit. The goverment has a role to play, and religion has a role to play. I can attend a Jewish service and be comfortable in the knowlege that I am not allowed to get up and preach in Jesus’ name at that service and it is no infringement on my freedom of religion, because it is not my pulpit, it is theirs. When I go out on the street or back to my church or home, it is a different story and I can preach my heart out. When I take a job in a government and swear and oath to execute that job with no prejuduce to any religion (like the office of Governor), it is no infringement on my freedom to keep the oath, and use my own time and resources for my personal worship.

“we have the same God”..this is true, because there is only one God. But, the religious differences prove that we are not praying to the same God…there in lies the problem. This country has forgotten that there is one and only one true God.

We are it seems to me praying to the concept of God we create in our minds. You can’t capture lightning in a bottle. Once we throw away our concept of God then maybe we have a chance of actually knowing who or what He is. As long as we are more interested in being “right” than in seeking God we will miss the point. We will keep grabbing onto the finger pointing to God thinking that is God, rather than seeing God in Truth.

We see discord at home, we see fear in the market place, we see anger in the halls of governments, and as a nation we have forgotten who made us.
—————————————
It is the GOP who calls the president a “boy”, a tar b**y, a terrorist, etc. It is not the democrats who caused this divisiveness. Perry needs to look at his own party as the cause.

I have heard people call the President a Socialist, a communist, a muslim, ans several other unattractive names. I myself think he is a MARXIST Campus COmmie who has not outgrown that influence. But…I have never have heard anyone call him a terrorist, a boy, or aa tar baby.

We can’t un-read “Song of the South,” tboyhouston – but “tar baby”, unlike what you have been told or decided by yourself DOES NOT mean some black person to me. If you read SOTS, “tar baby” is a Black parable that means a situation that you should ignore and walk right by and be on your way because every fist you put in the tar baby’s face is stuck there as it happened to Br’er Rabbit. What it means to me is if it ain’t really bothering you, leave it alone. Read about it yourself.

My ancestors and their friends made us, and then others of my ancestore defended us. As near as I can tell they had NOTHING in common with Rick Perry and the goof balls who support him in his attempt to destroy My Country & My Constitution.

Keith:
I have heard some stupid things over and over, and the stupidest one is that anyone who does not agree with another’s idea of God somehow hates God. They may very well hate what you do in the name of God, but they are not so stupid as to think that God is why those things are happening. It is supremely arrogant to think that you alone speak for God so those who disagree with you must (not just disagree, but) hate God.

I hear it every day and it makes me sick.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. ”

Isaiah 55:9

Those who use the “hate God” card are led by evil to believe their own ways are just to the exclusion of others, to motivate them to give earthly power to charlatans and call it God’s Will, all the while claiming not to judge what is in the hearts of those who pray for primary victories.

No, God does not make me sick, but the “God Hater” card does.

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About Keith Wommack

I am a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, musician, and step-dad. -- However, I've been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then).